Re: Child Welfare Decision Making Research

[John Devaney <j.devaney@xxxxxxxxx>]

Carolyn

A colleague at Queen's University, Belfast, Trevor Spratt, has carried out
research into decision making in relation to child maltreatment referrals.
He has published articles in the British Journal of Social Work:

Spratt, T (2000) Decision making by senior social workers at point of first
referral. British Journal of Social Work 30: (5) 597-618.
Spratt, T. (2001) The Influence of Child Protection Orientation on Child
Welfare Practice. British Journal of Social Work 31: (6) 933-954.

Trevor used case vignettes and you can contact him at T.Spratt@qub.ac.uk.

You may also want to look at the following:

Fernandez, E. (1996) Significant Harm - Unravelling Child Protection
Decisions and Substitute Care Careers of Children. Aldershot, Avebury.
Webb, S. (2002) Evidence-based Practice and Decision Analysis in Social
Work. Journal of Social Work 2: (1) 45-63.

John Devaney
Research Fellow
School of Social Work
Queen's University
7 Lennoxvale
Belfast
BT9 5BY
Northern Ireland

Tel: +028 9033 5637
Fax: +028 9066 5465

E-mail: J.Devaney@qub.ac.uk